Marquez takes pole position at Austin, but will start from fourth on the grid, Pedrosa grabs a third-row start

Today Marc Marquez took his sixth pole out of six GPs held at the Circuit of the Americas, and his first this season, but tomorrow he will start from fourth place on the grid after being sanctioned and given a three-place grid penalty.

A turn 13 crash from his second flying lap forced Marquez to rush back to the pit and jump on his second bike to defend his provisional pole. He managed that but didn’t realize that Maverick Vinales was coming fast behind him and found himself in the way. This was the reason for the penalty.

After fighting hard in this morning’s FP3 to keep a top-10 position in order to gain direct access to QP2, a recovering Dani Pedrosa pushed himself to the limit to grab an impressive third-row start, with the ninth-fastest lap time.

Tomorrow’s 2:00pm race will be the first of the seven rounds in the 2018 calendar that will be shortened in distance. The Americas GP will be reduced by one lap, from 21 to 20.

Marc Marquez

Pole position2'03.658

“Basically, today was good for us, as we were the fastest in qualifying and, most importantly, were able to keep a good race pace in FP3 and FP4. Of course qualifying was a bit hectic. I crashed and had to take my second bike for the second run. I went out, and unfortunately I didn’t expect Maverick to arrive behind me because I was focused on Andrea (Iannone), who was waiting ahead and who I knew could be very fast. I apologized to Maverick but I didn’t realize he was behind me until I heard his engine. So tomorrow I’ll start from fourth. It will be important to choose the right tyre; we’ve worked a lot on used tyres and I was able to be consistent during the practices, but this track is quite physically demanding and tomorrow the temperature should be higher, so we’ll see. We’ll try and remain fully concentrated.”

Dani Pedrosa

9th2'04.963

“Of course I’m quite satisfied because I honestly didn't expect to be able to ride, as this track is very hard. I was able to qualify directly to Q2, so I was already super-happy at that point. This morning I had to make a big effort, and I felt more pain compared to yesterday. I was expecting rain today, which would have let me have a little bit less stress on the hand so that I could recover more easily for tomorrow. But unfortunately, it was dry, and I had to go. My position wasn't so bad at one point in qualifying, but I wasn't able to improve, so I lost some positions. Anyway, I’m more than surprised just to be riding. For tomorrow, we’ll see if we can get some help from the medicines and see if this will let me give more effort, because the race is long.”

MotoGP 2018Saturday, April 21st 2018

Qualifying
Round 3
Red Bull Grand Prix of The AmericasAmericas

Qualifying Classification

Dry

Humidity

87%

Track Temp

23°C

Air Temp

22°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2'03.658

2

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.406

3

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.551

4

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

0.552

5

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.571

6

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

0.636

7

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

Honda

0.798

8

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

1.207

9

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1.305

10

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1.400

11

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1.602

12

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

2.171

13

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

2'05.457 Q1

14

Rabat Tito

53

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'05.686 Q1

15

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

2'05.761 Q1

16

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

2'05.873 Q1

17

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2'05.943 Q1

18

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

2'05.966 Q1

19

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'06.035 Q1

20

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2'06.222 Q1

21

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

2'06.296 Q1

22

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'06.370 Q1

23

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

2'06.537 Q1

24

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'06.726 Q1

Gallery

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Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.

Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.